Oconto's quiz kids win Hi-Q title

Four members of Oconto High School's Hi-Q team smile Thursday after winning the Regional Championship, held at OHS. From Left are James Alwin, Lucas Ruechel, Alex Maynard and Karly Murphy.(Photo: Kent Tempus/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)Buy Photo

OCONTO – After answering questions to name the location of the world’s largest rodeo, the formula describing the energy a photon carries with the frequency of its electromagnetic wave and a Hindu deity, Oconto High School’s team went on Thursday to win the Hi-Q Regional Championship.

“These kids are amazing,” said their adviser, Tina Porath. “They put in many hours of study. They even quiz each other on the van rides (to matches).”

It was the first time Oconto has won the regional title. Last year’s team finished third, 34 years after its most recent appearance in the finals, when it also finished third. Oconto was second in 1979.

Oconto advances to the national championship, which is set for April 13. Teams compete remotely.

The first round was held Thursday morning at Marinette, instead of Wednesday, because of the storm this week that caused all three schools to cancel classes Tuesday and Wednesday.

That was the first time that had happened in the 41-year history of Hi-Q in northeast Wisconsin, said Dr. Daniel Kallgren, a UW-Marinette professor who has long served as the host of the academic quiz competition.

Eighteen schools in northeast Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan meet for three matches over the winter. Questions are on a variety of subjects, including American government, American history, art history, biology, chemistry, current events, geography, literature, mathematics, physics, Shakespeare, sports, and world history.

Buy Photo

Four members of Oconto High School's Hi-Q team work on a math question during the academic quiz competitions's regional championship Thursday at OHS. From left are Morgan Durand, Lucas Ruechel, Balin Welch, and Mara Allen.(Photo: Kent Tempus/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

Team member Lucas Ruechel, a senior, attributed the win to “lots of hard work, lots of studying.”

Morgan Durand, a junior, called the math questions “ridiculous.”

“They’ve been hard all season,” added senior Balin Welch. “You can’t really study for them. You kind of take what you get.

After the morning round, Oconto led with 33, followed by Marinette with 30 and Gillett 24.

The whole system – microphones, speakers, buzzers, lights and banners – was then packed up and transported to Oconto, and set up on the stage at John LeMay Auditorium.

After correctly answering their questions, and a few of their opponents’ questions, on Current Events, American History, Sports and Literature, Oconto held an 18-2-6 lead.

By halftime after the eighth question, Geography, the score tightened to 23-11-12.

Marinette answered their Art History question correctly for three points and answered another team’s question for one point, narrowing the score to 23-17-12.

Correct answers are worth four points for the last five questions, and Oconto scored on a Team Choice category (Geography), Physics and World History to put the match away, for a second half score of 37-22-17.

(The answers, respectively, were Calgary, Planck’s Constant and Vishnu. Those were most of the easier questions.)

Cash prizes of $2,000, $1,500, and $1,000 are given to the top three schools at an awards banquet, with team members and schools receiving commemorative plaques.

Oconto will compete at UW-Marinette against teams from the other three regions where HI-Q was established, Washington state, Pennsylvania and Alabama.

“We don’t know what to expect,” said junior Mara Allen. “This is new to us.”

Ruechel said he was expecting the national championship to be “an adventure.”

The other members of the team are junior Karly Murphy and James Alwin, and senior Alex Maynard.